War heroes, national icons to replace British-era names on 21 roads in Secunderabad Cantonment

Roads named after British military officers in the Secunderabad Cantonment will soon bear the names of Captain Vikram Batra, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, among others, after the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) approved the renaming of 21 roads and three bazaars on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) in a move aimed at replacing decades-old colonial-era nomenclature with names honouring Indian heroes and national icons.

SCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arvind Kumar Dwivedi told The Hindu that the proposals received the Board’s approval during its meeting on Wednesday. “The process of removing the colonial-era names from the existing roads and installing renamed names will be done within a month,” he said.

Among the prominent changes, Bolton Road will become Atal Bihari Vajpayee Road, Noble Road will be renamed A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road and Lytton Road will bear the name of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Potnee Road will become Tarapore Marg after Param Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Col. A.B. Tarapore, while Richardson Road has been renamed Unnikrishnan Marg in honour of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Wellington Road will become Vikram Batra Marg after the Kargil War hero, Gough Road will be renamed Somnath Sharma Marg after India’s first Param Vir Chakra awardee and Amherst Road will become Abdul Hamid Marg in honour of Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his actions during the 1965 Indo-Pak War. Burton Road has been renamed Santosh Babu Road in memory of Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who was killed in the Galwan Valley clash in 2020.

Changes have also been approved in the Bazar area, where Bearers Lines will be renamed Kartavya Nagar, 108 Bazar will become Infantry Bazar and RA Pensioners Lines will be known as Artillery Pensioners Lines.

The complete list of the present names and the proposed names are as follows: